THE MENWITH HILL SITE

Signals intelligence systems also provided warning of impending Iraqi Scud missile launches. The missile launchers:

"have a radar …. used to track a balloon sent into the upper atmosphere just before launch to help compute high altitude winds and increase accuracy of the missile." [ 107 ]

Also, one way of assessing the effectiveness of bomb damage is to monitor the amount of radio traffic after attack. [ 108 ]

In early February 1991 it was reported that:

"for the first time, some Guard units have broken radio silence, enabling US intelligence to study their codes and deduce that they are under pressure." [ 109 ]

A little while later it was reported that:

"many Iraqi troops are being forced to communicate outside of secure networks on regular VHF radio channels, which are far easier for allied intelligence gatherers to intercept... such open communication could allow allied special forces teams to infiltrate Iraq's airwaves with false battle orders designed to confuse Iraqi troops." [ 110 ]

Also in early February, it was reported that Soviet advisors were providing the Iraqi

"military with information about the times US spy satellites pass overhead... The information on the Soviet action was gathered from what the sources described as an 'extremely sensitive source,' a term often use to describe communications intercepts." [ 111 ]

SIGINT was also central to efforts to attack Iraqi leadership assets, including Saddam Hussein himself.

"Saddam has changed his daily routine and movements as a result of disclosures that US air forces had targeted him, his family, his mistress and members of his family." [ 112 ]

SIGINT was instrumental in the identification of the Amiriya bomb shelter in Baghdad which was alleged to have sent signals from the shelter to a remote antenna via cable in order to avoid disclosing the location. [ 113 ] Despite there being limited photographic coverage, apparently "intercepts of military communications from the shelter were monitored" close to the actual bombing which killed hundreds of civilians on 12 February 1991. However, a "Pentagon official, who asked not to be named, suggested that the installation was not broadcasting its messages by antenna. Rather, this official implied, that the center used buried communications lines to transmit its messages, which were later relayed to forces in the field." [ 114 ]

Following the controversy that surrounded the bombing, "some political leaders pushed to release intercepted radio signals from the site," [ 115 ] but this never happened.

American scepticism concerning Iraq's offer on15 February to withdraw from Kuwait, subject to a number of conditions, was reinforced by signals intelligence. "... radio intercepts overheard no orders going out from Baghdad telling Iraqi commanders the war is nearing an end...” [ 116 ]

Another use of SIGINT is highlighted when:

"Days before the start of the ground war, the forces began dropping 15,000 pound 'Daisy Cutter' bombs on Iraqi troops from the back of C-130 transport planes.... Terrified Iraqis were certain that the devastating explosion signaled the beginning of the ground war, and turned on their air-defense radars all along the boarder. American pilots pinpointed many air-defense installations they never new existed. Says one Pentagon official, 'We were able to 'paint' every radar electronically and knock them out.'" [ 117 ]

According to Professor Des Ball of the Australian National University, during the Gulf War satellites controlled by Menwith Hll’s sister base at Pine Gap intercepted Iraqi communications and radar signals. These satellites monitored critical communications channels within Iraq, including those used by the Iraqi military high command.

The close linkage between space-based intelligence collection and military operations was clearly spelt out in congressional testimony four years ago by the then Director of the National Reconnaissance Office:

"In the future, US forces will rely upon space systems for global awareness of threats, swift orchestration of military operations, and precision use of smart weapons. ... Our goal is to detect, track and target anything of significance worldwide and to get the right information to the right people at the right time."

The objective then is to enable the US military to deliver "precise military firepower anywhere in the world, day or night, in all weather". [ 118 ]

The War in Iraq

Even before the war in Iraq began SIGINT was playing a role. A memo leaked to the Observer in February 2003 claimed that delegations at the UN Security Council were being electronically bugged as part of the US government’s efforts to win a second resolution on Iraq. [ 119 ]

Satellite systems were a key component to the execution of the war on Iraq. During the war the US military was using 10 times the satellite capacity that it used in 1991.

Nine days before the start of the war in 2003 a new US Defense Satellite Communications System was installed in space to connect ground forces, ships, planes, the Pentagon, the White House, the State Department and the U.S. Space Command.

Over 50 military satellites supported the US and UK war effort. 27 Global Positioning System satellites were available to help determine the exact location of special operations teams and of targets. Around 24 satellites were employed to channel communications and commands and to give warning of missile attack and there were also weather forecasting, TV and other systems in operation. A February 2000 flight of the space shuttle Endeavor used radar to produce a 3-D map of targets in Iraq. [ 120 ]

The director of space operations for the US Air Force, Maj. Gen. Judd Blaisdell, has estimated that 33,600 people at 36 sites around the world are involved in space-war activities.

There were problems with the technology. At least 2 Tomahawk missiles missed their targets and landed in Saudi Arabia and Turkey by mistake, but also the availability of radio bandwidth (the range of frequencies that can be used) was found to be insufficient.

On Tuesday 22nd April 2003 the US Air Force set up the 614th Space Intelligence Squadron at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. In a short formal ceremony the commander, Lt Col Earl White made the following statement:

"Everybody in the world has been watching this Iraq war, and the Gulf War before that," said Lt. Col. White in an interview after the ceremony. "And they know what space does for the U.S. military. That is a key enabler. Without space, we're back to World War II. Anyone who wants to take on the United States knows they've got to handle us in space." [ 121 ]

Also, Maj. Kurt Gaudette, director of operations for the new squadron was reported as stating that:

"All smart bombs, and smart weapons, were controlled by GPS (Global Positioning System)”

And John Pike, director of globalsecurity.org was quoted as saying:

"The latest war with Iraq was the space war that the 1991 Gulf War previewed. Space systems are the key to U.S. military power." [ 122 ]

Menwith Hill had an important role as an interceptor of and a conduit for intelligence and command information in the Gulf war and the War on Iraq and its activities are likely to continue to expand as the US develops more space based war fighting systems.